Lewis Baston: The Conservative local election landslide of 1968

How a unique combination of Heath and Powell saw the Tories swept to power from Sheffield to Lambeth.

Iain Dale: As I prepared for my Question Time debut, I heard that Diane Abbott had pulled out. Was it something I said?

Plus: May in trouble and Rudd in danger over Windrush. Corbyn stumbles. The pound rises. Local elections loom. And: the dignity of Neville Lawrence.

Henry Hill: Showdown in Cardiff as Jones threatened Assembly with legal action

Also: Government to challenge devolved Brexit legislation in court; Dodds accuses Tusk of ‘bully-boy’ tactics over the border; and more.

Garvan Walshe: Have no doubt about it – Prime Minister Corbyn would abandon Eastern Europe

Britain would be powerless to deter Russian aggression, because he doesn’t see upholding peace and security in Europe – let alone the world – to be part of his job.

Chris Grayling: The argument for capitalism over socialism cannot be won with a history lesson

We need to illustrate how the wonders of today’s world would never have been created by an all-powerful state.

Alex Morton: Conservatives and Liberals share a new opponent – Progressive Authoritarians

But some, perhaps many, Tory MPs have these tendencies – including one no less senior than the Prime Minister herself.

James Frayne: Remain-voting ministers don’t understand voters’ views on immigration, and so wildly overcompensate

Aggressive Home Office measures appear to be designed by people who wrongly assume that illiberal ideas must appeal to the primitive desires of the masses.

Henry Newman: Could Macron be the leader to deliver the Brexit deal that Davis is battling for?

Despite talk of the negotiations getting bogged down, the French president seems to understand that the process is about politics more than legal complexity.

Rebecca Lowe: Gender pay, childcare, flexibility, robots – and the future of work

To my mind, once some kind of base fairness has been established, then it’s best to leave cultural transformations down to demand.

Iain Dale: There’s a glint in Harman’s eye as she watches the Speaker’s chair

Plus: For and against bombing Syria. For Andrew Neil. Against Andrew Adonis. And: not an erection in sight.

Henry Hill: Trimble warns that Irish Brexit stance risks antagonising loyalist paramilitaries

Also: Wallace attacks Scottish Government for objection to ‘British values’; Geldof says Easter Rising was a ‘mistake’; SNP woes deepen over indy divisions; and more.

Daniel Hannan: Corbyn’s first instinct in a national crisis is to treat it as a way to attack the Tories – much to Putin’s satisfaction

Ask one question: In what conflict has Jeremy Corbyn ever been on Britain’s side? He always finds a way of blaming the world’s problems on the West.

Robert Halfon: Ministers should value the Open University no less than Oxbridge. And the latter should open up to apprenticeships.

What is the objective of higher education if it does not play a major role in addressing our country’s skills deficit?

James Frayne: The local elections – and why London modernisation won’t work for provincial Britain

They want to know that their political leaders aren’t racist or judgemental or stuck in a 1950s parody – but they aren’t interested in hearing about these ideas primarily.

Nicky Morgan: A stark truth. We’re not doing well enough among women. Here’s how we can do better.

Unless we find a way to win over those in their forties, thirties and younger, we will have an even bigger problem at the next election.